And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto Heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. Luke 18:13
The Pharisee and the publican both recognized that they, as individuals, had entered into the presence of God. But the similarity ends there. The Pharisee acted as though God had come at his bidding, to listen to his recitation of the proofs of his holiness. This religions leader felt he had plenty to boast about, and he boasted. He was not looking at God to know more about Him, but was instructing God to look at him. But the publican, by his words and his actions, showed that it was only by the mercy of God that he could approach the place of sacrifice. He was ashamed of his sinfulness, and confessed it to God. Where the Pharisee exalted himself above those around him, the publican did the opposite, taking responsibility for being the sinner for whom the sacrifice on the temple altar was burning. A more accurate translation of what appears as ‘a sinner’ in our Bible would be ‘the sinner’. The publican saw himself not as a member of a sinful race but as an individual sinner. And he did not like what he saw.
C.S. Lewis once said, ‘The real test of being in the presence of God is that you either forget about yourself altogether or see yourself as a small, dirty object.’ In the presence of God, the publican was overwhelmed by that presence and by the contrast between his sinfulness and God’s holiness. There is no question that he recognized that he was in God’s presence. That is why he appealed to the value of the sacrifice on the temple altar as the grounds for God to show him mercy. He bowed his head in humility and smote his breast in self reproach. And he was justified, we read in the next verse. He was justified because he entered the presence of God.
There is no indication that the Pharisee, who made a great show of being a godly man, ever made it into the presence of God. Verse 11 tells us that he prayed with himself, and actually addressed himself as God. He totally missed the value of the sacrifice on the temple altar. He saw no need for mercy, and was comfortable with his own self-righteousness. He was not justified. We will see the penitent publican in Heaven, but the proud Pharisee won’t be there. He never made it into the presence of God in time.
Keep in mind that we are in the camp of the publican who needed mercy, and not in the camp of the Pharisee who was too full of himself to know he needed mercy too. -Jim MacIntosh